Comparison

Musical Chord vs EffectDeck

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Musical Chord

This app offers a comprehensive suite of tools and exercises for music study, catering to both beginners and advanced musicians. It covers music theory, ear training, sheet music reading, chord analysis, and includes practical tools like a tuner and metronome for various instruments.

Highlights
  • Music theory exercises
  • Chord progression analysis
  • Sheet music reading
  • Instrument tuner
  • Metronome
  • Chord dictionary
  • Virtual instruments
Features
Read full description

Musical Chord is an app that helps you study music, from beginner to advanced. There are several tools for musicians, music theory, thousands of exercises on music theory, music perception, sheet music, chords, chord progression, musical intervals, musical cadences, which will help in your learning and evolution in acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano and any musical instrument in general. Key Features: - Exercises on music theory, music perception, sheet music, chords, chord progression, intervals, chord progression, and cadences. - Tools for musicians. - Music theory. - Reharmonization theory and tool. - Tuner for acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, among others. - Metronome. - Musical intervals. - Chord progression. - Chord calculator. - Chord dictionary for acoustic guitar, electric guitar and piano. - Rhythmic reading on sheet music. - Solfeggio on sheet music. - Perception of musical intervals. - Scales for acoustic guitar, electric guitar and piano. - Harmonic functions of each chord. - Chord replacement. - Musical cadences. - Virtual Drum - Virtual Piano - Audio controls with pitch change and speed change - Chords by similar notes - Circle of fifths - Piano pads - Recorder - Pitch Graph - Fretboard Made for beginners and advanced musicians. Do you have any suggestions? Our team is ready to assist you. Musical Chord.

About

EffectDeck

Process audio from any app with a customizable chain of effects. Add built-in, AUv3, or custom JSFX plugins. Share your audio chains and scripts easily.

Highlights
  • 100+ built-in audio effects
  • JSFX script support
  • AUv3 plugin integration
  • Custom impulse responses
  • Audio analysis tools
  • Preset management
  • Chain and script sharing
Features
Read full description

EffectDeck puts an effect chain on the audio other apps are already playing, and the effects you can put in it are not limited to the ones it ships with. Pick EffectDeck as the output in Control Center, then open the app and build a chain. No virtual cable, no routing to set up, nothing to configure first. Start from over 100 of EffeTune's effects, running unmodified: the same DSP code EffeTune runs on the desktop and on the web. Add the AUv3 plug-ins already on your device and your own impulse responses. When the effect you want does not exist, write it as a JSFX script, and it goes into the chain like any other effect. WHAT YOU GET - Over 100 built-in effects: EQ, dynamics, saturation, modulation, reverb, delay, spatial, lo-fi and restoration - JSFX effects: import a script from Files, a link or the clipboard. Each gets its own sliders and, if it draws, its own display - AUv3 effect plug-ins installed on your iPhone or iPad - Convolution reverb with your own impulse responses, and AutoEQ profiles for the 15-band EQ - Analyzers you can drop into the chain: spectrum, spectrogram, oscilloscope, level and stereo meters - Presets from EffeTune, plus your own presets in folders - Share a chain or a JSFX script as a link, and open the links others send you - A two-column layout on iPad - Oversampling at 48, 96 or 192 kHz, with latency and CPU shown while it runs HOW IT WORKS iOS 27 lets an app present itself as an audio output device. EffectDeck appears in Control Center next to your speaker and headphones. Choose it, and the audio from the player you are using is handed over, processed, and played back on the same device. Apps that never report themselves as playing, most games among them, keep going straight to the speaker. The audio never leaves the device, and nothing is collected. If you are signed in to iCloud, your presets and chain follow you to your other devices. The effects are EffeTune by Yoshiyuki Kobayashi (MIT). This app is a separate project and is not affiliated with EffeTune. The name was changed at the upstream author's request.

Screenshots

Musical Chord4 screens
EffectDeck4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: EffectDeck at Free against Musical Chord's $9.99. EffectDeck also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 weeks). Musical Chord's advantage is review sentiment (89% vs 75%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

EffectDeck is free to download; Musical Chord costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Musical Chord holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 9 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of Musical Chord's written reviews are positive against 75% of EffectDeck's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Musical Chord ships an update every 3 weeks, EffectDeck every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Musical Chord versus EffectDeck: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMusical ChordEffectDeck
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better4.8 (9 ratings)
Positive reviews89.3% of reviews — better75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings49 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better27.0
Further details — not scored
Size89 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFelipe De Freitas BatistaMasahiro Sato

Customer experience

Musical Chord

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews28 reviews
Positive89.3%
Neutral7.1%
Negative3.6%

EffectDeck

All ratings9 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral11.1%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Musical Chord

No in-app purchases

None

EffectDeck

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Musical Chord free?
Musical Chord costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is EffectDeck free?
EffectDeck is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Musical Chord or EffectDeck?
Musical Chord is rated higher. Musical Chord averages 5.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while EffectDeck averages 4.8 from 9 ratings.
Do Musical Chord or EffectDeck have ads?
Neither Musical Chord nor EffectDeck shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Musical Chord or EffectDeck?
Musical Chord ships an update every 3 weeks, and EffectDeck every 2 days. Most recently, Musical Chord was updated on October 23, 2026 and EffectDeck on October 10, 2026.

Other comparisons